


Life After AIDA

by Persiflage



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Grocery Shopping, Older Man/Younger Woman, POV Skye | Daisy Johnson, Post-Season/Series 04, Rogue SHIELD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-20
Updated: 2017-05-20
Packaged: 2018-11-02 20:05:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10951767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Persiflage/pseuds/Persiflage
Summary: Post S4: SHIELD is a rogue organisation again, and Daisy and Coulson are just doing their best to keep the world safe - sometimes that means going grocery shopping.





	Life After AIDA

**Author's Note:**

> I've basically ignored what the teaser at the end of the S4 finale means for the characters and jumped ahead to them being back together on Earth.

"Come on, you need a break."

Daisy looks up from the computer station she's set up in a corner and frowns at Phil. "I don't have time for a break."

He doesn't roll his eyes, but she could swear he wants to. "Daisy, you've been on the go for 3 days straight – you've hardly eaten, and I'm pretty sure you haven't slept. We're as safe as you can make us for the time being, so take some time off before you turn into a stooped caricature of your former self."

She raises her eyebrows at that, then realises that he might have a point – now he's mentioned it she notices that she's stiff in the neck and shoulders from bending over the computers. She sits up straighter, trying not to wince as her muscles protest, then gets to her feet.

"Okay, okay," she mutters. "I'll take ten, and – "

"Thirty," he says in a real no-nonsense tone. "At least." He holds out his hand. "C'mon."

She frowns for a moment, then with a mental shrug, holds out her own and he wraps his fingers firmly around hers and not-quite-bodily hauls her away. "Where are we going?"

"Out," he says. "I have to make a run to get some supplies, and it'll do you good to have some fresh air and see the outside world." He pulls a pair of sunnies from his jacket pocket and holds them out, then hands her a baseball cap. When they reach the door out of the makeshift tech lab, he lifts a leather jacket down from a peg and she's startled to realise it's the one she'd been wearing some 9 months ago, back when she was the only member of the team who was a fugitive. She can't say she misses those days, and while she'd rather that SHIELD wasn't in disgrace and a rogue operation (on a grander scale than after the HYDRA reveal), she'll admit to being glad of the company she has now. Well, most of it, anyway.

Once she's disguised by her coat and accessories, she climbs into her van – which she'd retrieved from Robbie's place, re-sprayed, then handed over for the team's use – and settles into the passenger seat alongside Phil.

"I hope this isn't giving you too many flashbacks," he says in a quiet voice as he pulls out onto the main street and heads toward the out of town mall.

"It's fine," she tells him. She's sure she'd be having nightmares if she were actually sleeping – although she suspects the nightmares would be about the Framework, not their current situation.

She doesn't want to talk about herself, so she talks about what the others are doing: Mack and Elena are practically inseparable since they got out of the Framework; May is still struggling with everything that both her avatar and her LMD did during those weeks, but Piper's helping as much as she can; Jemma's and Fitz's relationship is over – the two work together out of necessity, but they're formally courteous when they have to talk to each other, and she knows Phil's worried about them both. 

Once at the mall, they head to Trader Joe's and Daisy grabs a cart while Phil digs out the list of groceries. He looks over at her when she pauses beside him to see where in the store he wants to head first and mutters, "Oh how the mighty are fallen." Daisy's surprised into a choked laugh, thinking that yeah, he's right – the former Director of SHIELD and the infamous Quake, reduced to doing their own grocery shopping in Trader Joe's. Not that she cares in the least – and she doesn't think Phil minds too much, either – she doesn't want fame, doesn't want to be papped every time she sets foot outside: she just wants to do her job, protecting the vulnerable.

"C'mon then, Mighty Man, where we heading first?"

He gives her a soft smile at the 'Mighty Man' line, then gestures to their left, and they set off around the store. As they make their way around, filling up the cart, Daisy can't help wishing they could've done this under pleasanter circumstances, and she feels the old, familiar ache of yearning, of wanting ordinary domestic errands with a Phil Coulson who's neither the Director of SHIELD nor even an Agent. It's foolish, she knows, because he doesn't feel that way about her – she knows he cares, and cares deeply, but not like that. She thinks, too, about his schoolteacher avatar in the Framework, and how AIDA had fixed Coulson's 'regret' about joining SHIELD, but he still hadn't gotten to have the quiet domestic life he'd wanted.

She nudges his arm with hers as he's peering at his own handwriting. "You never said," she says quietly. "Who were you married to?"

He blinks, his expression blank, and she sees realisation dawn. "Audrey. I'd been married to Audrey Nathan."

"I'm sorry," she says softly.

He looks puzzled. "Why?"

"Because AIDA supposedly gave you what you wanted, but you didn't actually get it after all – you were divorced, right?"

He nods. "Doesn't matter," he says quietly. "It wasn't real."

"Yeah, but – "

"Daisy." He says her name firmly, and his expression's pained now, so she backs off, not wanting to make him uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry," she repeats. "I didn't – "

To her surprise he wraps his arm around her shoulders and tugs her body closer. She feels a surge of warmth through her body and lets go of the cart handle to hug him back. His breath ghosts against her neck and the side of her face as he whispers, "Sorry, but we've got a stare-er. I'm not sure if he's recognised you or something."

"Okay." She has goosebumps down her back and feels warmth between her thighs, which is frankly embarrassing, but she's not doing it on purpose.

"Sorry," he repeats, and she's trying to work out why, but then his mouth brushes against hers, and she feels as if every bone in her bone has just melted away. She kisses him back, a lot less tentatively, and she feels a change in his vibrations – the anxiety of moments ago melts into something else but it's not until she realises he's growing hard that she recognises that it's arousal that's colouring his vibrations. That makes her bolder, and she deepens the kissing, allowing her desire to seep into it, and when he moans softly into her mouth she feels a surge of arousal sweep through her body.

She pulls her mouth from his, and they're both breathing raggedly, chests heaving, and he's staring at her, looking a bit dazed, but also looking happy.

"Daisy," he breathes.

"Phil," she murmurs, and is extremely happy when he dives back in for another kiss – the stare-er and the groceries completely forgotten for the moment.

When they pull apart for breath the second time, he stutters, "I didn't know – I mean, I didn't think – You – "

She chuckles softly, then hugs him hard. "Yeah, Phil, I've fancied you for ages."

"Oh god." They cling together for a bit, then he says, "This is pretty lousy timing."

"Maybe," she says. "But when's there ever been a good time for this?"

He sighs. "Yeah."

"We'll work something out," she says and he gives her a half smile, recognising the words he's said to her in the past.

"I couldn't do this without you, you know," he says. "I know you could manage – you did manage – without me, but I'm lame and old and – "

"Don't do that," she says in a fierce whisper. "You're not old or lame, and you're a very capable man. If you really had to, you could do this without me. But you don't have to. We'll do this together. We'll destroy the Daisybots, and we'll prove to the world that it needs SHIELD, whether they want to admit that or not. We'll stand up and fight and do our duty, no matter how hard they make things for us."

He gives her this look: fiercely proud and unbearably happy all at once. "Yes," he breathes, then dives in to kiss her again, although it doesn't last very long because she's trying to kiss him back and also trying not to giggle. 

"What?" he asks, pulling back, his expression confused now.

"We're making a spectacle of ourselves in Trader Joe's," she reminds him, and he blushes charmingly, mumbles an apology, then turns his attention back to the shopping list.

She pushes onto her tiptoes and whispers in his ear, "Later, Phil," and senses him shudder, which gives her a thrill: she's excited at the prospect of exploring this development with him.

She has no idea what the future holds, but she reckons that they'll be stronger facing it together.


End file.
